photos by Amanda Hatfield

Passion Pit / Kud Cudi at Governors Ball - 6/23/12

Governors Ball went down in Randall's Island over the weekend (6/23-6/24) with 26 bands across two stages and no overlapping sets. Day 1 was "headlined" by Passion Pit (though Kid Cudi played after them) and also included Chromeo, Major Lazer, Atmosphere, Santigold, Duck Sauce (Armand Van Helden and A-Trak), James Murphy & Pat Mahoney (Special Disco Version DJ set), and more. Probably the most anticipated set of the day was Passion Pit's, who were playing their first NYC area show in about a year and a half, and first since announcing their new album and releasing two singles from it (both of which they played). NY Times didn't seem to approve much of their set though, writing:

Saturday played out as a party punctuated by angst; there were many, many calls for putting hands in the air. Party and angst mix in Passion Pit, who work in two main modes: the shimmering anthem and the pulsating dance-pop song, both with more cryptic lyrics than might be expected. Passion Pit stacked the anthems at the beginning of the set-among them a new song, "Take a Walk," about an immigrant who finds himself financially ruined-before revving up the dance tunes. But the stage didn't add much beyond subwoofers to Passion Pit's songs; Michael Angelakos's vocals, mostly falsetto, needs studio help.

They wrote similar criticism of Kid Cudi, mentioning that he also needs the safety net of the studio, but were very positive about Day 1's selection of dance music, including Special Disco Version, Duck Sauce, and Major Lazer. What did you think? Or did you just go on the (much better day) Sunday?

Pictures from Sunday are on the way. More from Saturday below...

Continue reading "Governors Ball 2012 - day 1 pics (Passion Pit, Santigold, Chromeo, Special Disco Version, Kid Cudi, Major Lazer & more)"

As posted last night, Modest Mouse are playing Governors Ball on Randall's Island during the weekend of June 23-24 (same weekend as Orion), but they are just one of many artists that are now announced, and listed, along with more information, below...

Continue reading "NYC fest Governors Ball announces 2012 lineup (Beck, Passion Pit, EITS, Built to Spill, Devendra Banhart, Cults & more)"

Mastodon fans (more by Greg Cristman)

Bon Iver was nominated for four high profile Grammys (though not "Album of the Year" which is what Arcade Fire won). Adele & Katy Perry nominated for a zillion, and other nominees include The Black Keys, Foster the Peepee, Cee Lo, Duck Sauce, Robyn, Cut Copy, Skrillex, Deadmau5, Coldplay, Radiohead, Mumford & Son, Mastodon, Wilco, Death Cab For Cutie, My Morning Jacket, Jay-Z, Kanye West, The Civil Wars, Emmylou Harris, Levon Helm, Fleet Foxes, Gillian Welch, Steve Earle, Patton Oswalt, Louis CK, Weird Al, Danger Mouse, Memory Tapes, TV On the Radio, A Tribe Called Quest, etc...

photos by Brook Bobbins

The Rusko & Doorly tour hit Terminal 5 in NYC on Wednesday night (4/27). Pictures from that HARD-presented show are in this post.

HARD also presents the LA date of the tour which is also the last date of the tour.

LA is also where HARD is holding a 'Summer Festival' on Saturday August 6th. That craziness will include sets by:

"DUCK SAUCE, Boys Noize, CHROMEO live, RATATAT live, Skrillex, ODD FUTURE, JAMES MURPHY AND PAT MAHONEY DFA TENT SPECIAL DISCO VERSION, DIGITALISM live, Jack Beats, KARLSSON and WINNBERG / MIIKE SNOW DJ SET, Caspa, NERO, Noisia, Emalkay, CARTE BLANCHE live featuring dj Mehdi and Riton, BUSY PICTIONARY featuring BUSY P and SO ME, Holy Ghost ! live, SIRIUSMO, GESAFFELSTEIN, GASLAMP KILLER, DESTRUCTO, Juan MacLean, Shit Robot (The Shit Robot Show), Still Going, Nadastrom, DILLION FRANCIS, Acid Jacks, Visuals by Vello V2 labs, + more."

Tickets are on sale.

HARD Cruise sails out of Florida in January, and though no lineup has been announced for that yet, I'm sure the lineup will contain at least a few of the artists mentioned in this post.

More pictures from Terminal 5 are below...

Continue reading "Rusko played Terminal 5 w/ Doorly & Destructo (pics), playing other HARD events (dates)"

Alt-bros Dave 1 and A-Trak (more by Brook Bobbins)

Miike Snow/Major Lazer/Santigold/etc. at Terminal 5 on March 5th (on sale now) isn't the only birthday party Downtown Records is throwing for itself. They're also hosting A-Trak, Art Brut, White Denim, Lissy Trullie, and The Suzan at Webster Hall on March 4th. Tickets for that first part of the two-day celebration go on sale Saturday (1/29).

A-Trak is also on board for this year's sold-out Cochella Fest, playing not only as A-Trak, but also two days later as part of Duck Sauce (his project with Armand Van Helden).

The Suzan is hitting the road with Chromeo (also are playing Coachella this year) and MNDR for US dates next week. The tour hits a sold-out Terminal 5 on Feb 4th (the afterparty is at Webster Hall). The Fool's Gold-signed Suzan recently dropped a pair of releases in Japan, a live iTunes only LP and a CD+DVD combo of Golden Week For The Poco Poco Beat.

No more Art Brut dates to report at the moment. All A-Trak and Suzan tour dates and some videos below.

Continue reading "A-Trak playing Coachella & another Downtown Records Party (w/ the Suzan, Lissy Trullie, White Denim & ART BRUT)"